I seriously like all the condensing. It's really difficult to cover all the important info while staying concise. In particular, the "key concepts" was an excellent idea, although I would consider putting them at the top so people know what stuff they are supposed to learn right away (the last thing we want is for this information to be hidden). Maybe leave them at the end too, simply retitled "Review of Key Concepts." It may seem redundant, but it can really reinforce what you are supposed to know.
Content-wise, I think we're pretty good. Although honestly I haven't read through it all. One concern I have with the guides is (and has always been) the layout of the index page. It is so disorganized (to the point that we can't even call it a singular Guide-- rather we call it The Guides). Some things in particular:
- The Theory guides are the most daunting part of amv production, and certainly not what new editors are looking for when they want a guide about amv's; yet you get a gigantic chunk of it right at the beginning with no real connection to where it applies later on. Ideally you would want to introduce this information in the guides when it becomes relevant. Now, without re-writing the guides from scratch this would be difficult to implement. So with the way we have it now, I would suggest putting the Theory guides at the bottom of the main page, listed as an Appendix. Then in the main body of the guide, links can simply be introduced whenever it seems appropriate.
- Most people prefer a more linear layout. While I think dividing the audio/video into their respective sides is a novel idea, it makes more sense if there was a clear time and place to do all the audio stuff. In my opinion, this should all be done before you even touch the video component-- I mean, generally you work your amv around the audio anyway. So I think the entire audio side should be scrapped and placed right before "Getting your Video." Additionally, since there are only two Audio Theory Guides, they can easily be put with the rest.
- Some things are still redundant, but considering the evolution of this guide, I think that is something to be expected. If we move towards a linear guide, this shouldn't be a problem. I'm just looking at how many times we say Download the AMVapp, which makes me question whether I'm an idiot, or if I really missed something. When I first started making amv's, I swear I thought there were multiple AMVapps-- then got annoyed when I found out all the links went to the same place
. Anyways, if we have a linear guide, and one of the first steps says "Download the AMVapp," nobody is going to miss it. Plus, it's generally easier and more efficient to learn things in chunks, because people can scan down... almost like a checklist.
- Also regarding multiple links to the same place: Keep it to a minimum. I wouldn't add links to the headings "Getting your Video", "Getting your Audio", "Editing and Preparing your audio" when the subheading goes to the same place. I would probably scrap all the headings under Getting your Video, and replace with everything under the overview page, which is really the heart of the guide anyways. At one point, I didn't even know that existed. I'm kind of shocked it was so hidden.
- Use magical numbers. [Educational mumbo-jumbo ahead] Generally, people can't remember more than 7 items unless they condition themselves. On average, people remember 5. This should be your target for the number of headings (or less). I think we should be good for headings (at least the main ones). But even if the number goes over 7, never combine distinct concepts into one heading. However, if concepts are related, use subheadings under a more general main heading (for instance, .d2v and .avs files can fall under a general heading like "Reading your Ripped footage" ...or something similar).
- Having the headings centered isn't very readable
Ok, I think I have ranted enough and you probably hate me by now, so I should start being useful. This is how I suggest the main index page should look with a linear layout:
[see next post]
, but I modeled it off the way textbooks are written (they're written that way for a reason... 
)
I believe it. But I think that's always going to happen. If people are blind they are blind 
